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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK R. ROBINSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE H. SHIELDS, OF SAME PLACE.

MAKING SOAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,137, dated December 20, 1881.

Application filed Apr-i122, 1880. (Specimens) T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK R. RoBiN- SON, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Process in Making Laundry, Shaving, Toilet, and Other Soaps, which process is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to that class of processes used for making different kinds of soap; [0 and it consists in the use of an entirely new ingredient in soap-making never before used or known. The new ingredient is the pomace or refuse of the castor-bean after the oil is pressed out. This pomace consists of the crushed pulp or kernels of the beans, in which asmall quantity of oil remains after the pressing, and of the bull or outside shell of the beans, all crushed and mashed by the presses in the extracting of the oil, and has little or no commerzo cial value. I have discovered that the oily pulp or kernel of the castor-bean in this pomace or refuse, when separated from the broken hull or shell of the bean,possesses in a high degree all the essential properties required in making laundry, shaving, toilet, and other soaps, when used in connection with other adipose or oleaginous substances usually used in soap-making, or alone, as a base to unite with the alkali. The usefulness of this discovery consists in the utilizing as an article of coinmerce, a comparatively worthless substance, in its cheapness, in the combining qualities which it possesses,rendering saponification complete in the mordant property of itsinherent ammo- 5 nia, which alsorendersit remarkablydetergent. The soap made of this crushed and pressed pulp or kernel, as above stated, is much better than any soaps now in use, being so light that it floats on the water, being highly detergent and cleansing, and as a toilet-soap is healing and emollient to the skin, and for hospital or surgical purposes is very superior on account of its curative properties.

The following is the preferable formula for 5 making soap by my new process: Put one hundred pounds of the Castor-bean pomace or refuse, just as it comes from the press shell and all-in a kettle, and add fifty gallons of causticsodalyeofabouttwenty-threedegreesstrength, 5o applying heat sufiicient to make the materials hot but not boiling, continue the heat about two hours, or until the white pulp is all dissolved. Then strain this solution through afine sieve and add hot water to the residuum or shells, and strain again, and repeat the washing and straining as often as may be necessary to prevent waste of the pulp, using aboutfifty gallons of Water, which, being strained into the vessel containing the solution of lye and pulp, equalizes its strength. Put two hundred pounds of tallow and seventy-five pounds of resin into a kettle and melt them, when the heat should be diminished, and the solution of lye and pulp before mentioned should be added as fast as practicable, so as to avoid swelling and overflow, until all is added. Then increase the heat nearly to the boiling-point, and continue it until saponification is complete, which will take place in about three or four hours. If the soap is then granulated it may be left to settle; if not, granulation may he hastened by adding a little salt, it consistent with the subsequent handling of the product. After ten or twelve hours the fine soap on top may be dipped off, or it may remain undisturbed until it is hard enough to be cut with a knife, when all the granulated soap can be separated from the residuum. To produce the best results this product should be remelted, using sufficient water to render the soap suant and liquid enough to settle, and boil about an hour, when the soap should have a slightly granulated appearance. If it does not so appear, a small quantity of strong caustic-soda lye should be added, and when the soap is at boiling-point the heat should be removed and the soap left to settle. The residuum of this second settling mixed with the residuum of the first settling and remelted and reboiled will also produce a good, common, dark soap for cheap use.

It is obvious that the separation of the pulp or kernel of the bean from the shells might be had in some other way, the pulp or kernel alone being essential to the process of soap-making.

I do not intend to confine myself to the use of this pomace in connection with tallow and causticsoda lye, as above stated, as itcan be used with any other adipose or oleaginons substance, and with any other alkali used for no making soap. The resin can also be omitted when it is desired to make white soap; nor

do I wish to confine myself to the exact proportions mentioned above, but claim the right to vary the proportions of the materials, as is customary with soap-makers.

Soap may be made of the pomacc alone as a base, in combination with an alkali, or in 00111- bination with other oily substances in different proportions with an alkali; but I have given the preferableform ula for making economically a first-class soap with this new material.

WhatI claim as myinvention and discovery, and. wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

71. The making of soaps by the combination of the pomace or refuse of the castor-bean af- 

